Civil engineering alumni, students connect over golf

The weekend brought unseasonably warm, sunny weather, and a sizeable group of OHIO civil engineering alumni back to town for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter’s annual golf outing.

A chance for students to network with alumni, and the organization’s main annual fundraiser, scramble hosted 13, four-member teams in contests for individual long drive, closest to the pin and longest putt. Current students and faculty also came out to play.

“It’s nice to have all of our alumni back,” said senior Andy Doles, ASCE program director. “It’s a great networking experience. They have professional careers. There were several teams from ODOT. There are people here private businesses and consulting firms. It’s a good experience to get to meet people in your field and also have a good time.”

ODOT District 10 Deputy Director Steve Williams, BSCE ’87, ended up on the winning golf scramble team for the third year in a row. His team, “ODOT District 10,” also comprised Eric Reed, BSCE ‘05, Chase Wells, BSCE ’10, and Jordan Wells, BSETM ‘13.

“Love it,” he said. “We come every year. We always look forward to bringing a new team from ODOT to play in this outing.”

Williams, a 27-year ODOT veteran, runs and maintains all the projects within the district’s nine counties. That includes Athens County – and the recently completed Nelsonville Bypass project, on which civil engineering faculty and students worked.

Elli Bartemes, BSCE ’07, another ODOT employee, interned for the agency during her summers at OHIO and joined full-time when she graduated.

“I’m out on projects and in the elements actually building roadways and bridges,” said Bartemes, project engineer for district 5. “I’m supervising heavy highway construction and overseeing contractors for ODOT’s plans and specifications. I love working in the field every day,” she added.

What does she miss about OHIO? The constant camaraderie she experienced at the Russ College.

“You get close to your classmates at the Russ College because it’s a smaller community,” she said.

Recent grad Corey Brown, BSCE ’13, a field engineer and estimator for Kokosing Construction Company, where he did a co-op assignment as an undergraduate, agreed.

“People tell you you’re going to miss Athens, and you don’t really realize it,” he said. “When the time comes for graduation, you’re ready to go and ready to work full time, but then it sets in pretty quick about how much you’re really going to miss it. It sinks in.”

On top of boasting rights, winners at the golf outing received Ohio University golf balls, golf tees and mugs. First and second place overall teams also received plaques. Results were: